The cake is moist and sweet, even without the syrup or the icing. The cake contains courgettes, so it counts towards your 5 a day. This cake is also great served with custard.
Serves: 8–10 slices
Time to prepare: 20 mins
Time to cook: 50 mins
Dietary requirements: Dairy-free, Egg-free, Vegan
Ingredients
• 80g/2¾oz vegan margarine
• 175g/generous 6oz courgettes
• 160g/generous 5½oz caster sugar
• Zest of 3 lemons
• 40ml/1.4 fl oz lemon juice
• 100ml/3.5 fl oz plant milk
• 100g/3½oz ground almonds
• 175g/generous 6oz self-raising flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
Syrup (optional)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1.5 lemons, juiced
• 3 tbsp of water
Icing (optional)
• 120g/4¼oz icing sugar
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Line a square loaf tin 900g (21cm x 11cm x 7cm) with parchment paper.
Soften the vegan margarine, do not melt.
Coarsely grate the courgette and leave it in the sieve or colander to drain.
Using a wooden spoon to cream the vegan margarine and sugar. Add the lemon zest, juice, and plant milk, and mix to combine. At this point it is likely that the mixture will split, which is completely normal.
Gently press the grated courgette to squeeze out any residual liquid.
Sieve the ground almonds, flour and baking powder into the sugar and margarine mixture. Add grated courgette and stir until there are no lumps, avoid overmixing.
Pour the mixture into the lined loaf tin, using a rubber spatula to get all the cake mixture from the sides. Push the batter evenly to the edges of the tin and level the top.
Bake for 50 minutes. Use a wooden toothpick to check if it is cooked in the middle. Once cooked leave to cool in the tin.
Optional: prepare the syrup while the cake is baking by combining all the ingredients into a saucepan and bringing to the boil. Alternatively, microwave the mixture for 1 minute. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside until the cake is slightly cooled. Drizzle the syrup onto the cake while the cake is still slightly warm.
For the icing, sieve the icing sugar and gradually add the lemon juice while mixing. Make sure that the icing is thick. Gently spread it over the top of the cake.
